The family-owned fishing pier known as Dauphin Island’s “welcome mat” will be transferred to county ownership by the end of Wednesday.
For county officials and the MacRae family, which has long owned and operated the Cedar Point fishing pier, a major challenge over the past month has been combating misinformation and speculation on social media about what county ownership means.
“I want to assure the public that we have good intentions for this acquisition and I want to make sure that it is permanent and accessible to the community,” Commissioner Randall Duett said.
Jay McRae, whose family has owned the pier since 1986, said: “I think the county wants to come in here and put its stamp on it, improve some things, fix it up. We want it to be successful. This is our family legacy. It’s just going to take a little time.”
On Monday, the county commission approved a deal with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to purchase the marina and surrounding property for $2.25 million. The deal is expected to close Wednesday.
The money comes from revenue allocated to the state under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA), which Alabama and four other states receive under a federal law signed into law in 2006. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced during a visit to Spanish Fort on Oct. 15 that the pier will be purchased with $41 million in GOMESA funds recently allocated by the state.
However, after the sale was announced, some users and fans of the fishing pier began criticizing the new ownership agreement on Facebook.
McCrea said he believed much of the discontent stemmed from a “general distrust of government.”
He added: “They just don’t believe the county or the state can handle it as well as we can. (Duitt) keeps telling me it’s going to be the same, and I believe that.”
But the complaints continued, and one of them was whether beer sales were allowed. McCray had a license to sell beer and wine on the fishing pier.
Duit said county policy prohibits the sale of beer in county parks, and if that policy continues, alcoholic beverages will not be allowed to be purchased or consumed on the pier.
Duitt said the county’s parks director is working on a master plan that he believes will address some of the policy issues, including beer sales at facilities like golf courses the county hopes to open in the future. Duitt said he is currently working on purchasing the Linksman Golf Course in Tillmans Corner, renovating it and reopening it.
“You can’t have a golf course that doesn’t sell alcohol,” Duitt said. “Nobody’s going to play there.”
He added: “It’s county policy and I know people don’t like it, but it’s a policy that needs to change in the near future.”
Price is also an issue. Duitt said his goal is to reduce ticket prices from $7 to $5. He said when the pier reopens next spring, admission will be free for 60 days.
Perhaps the most notable issue is that the county plans to maintain the pier policy, which requires Alabama residents not to purchase a fishing license to fish from the pier. Alabama residents typically pay $6.50 to fish from the pier.
“The McCray family runs the business, and they’re in it to make money,” Duitt said. “At the prices they were selling at, they must have made money, or they wouldn’t have been in business for 35 years. But I’d like to get (an estimate) of the operating costs and lower (the commissions).”
The pier has been closed since early December by the MacRae family. In recent years, the MacRae family has closed the marina for the winter.
Duit said the facility will be closed until March 1, but he hopes to open it sooner. He said the county plans to make some improvements to the facility before it opens.
Jay McCray said his family’s liability insurance expired Dec. 4, forcing the pier to close. He said his family kept the dock open during the winter a few years ago, but in recent years the family has decided to close the dock from December to February.
“It’s a mistake to think the county is closing the facility,” McCray said. “That’s routine.”
The county’s purchase marks the end of an era for the Cedar Point fishing pier, which was built in the 1950s and was owned by just three families.
After Hurricane Frederic destroyed the pier in 1979, it sat idle for much of the 1980s until Roland MacRae bought it in 1986 and rebuilt it from scratch. According to a 1994 News-Record article, he spent $200,000 rebuilding the pier from virtually nothing—only a few pilings remained from the original Mobile Bay pier before it was destroyed by the powerful hurricane.
The area’s popularity soared in the 1990s, attracting families and tourists. The pier is the only place on the Alabama coast where Alabama residents can fish without a fishing license, which is part of the appeal.
Jay McRae is the youngest of three sons of Roland McRae, who died in 2018. He told AL.com last month that maintenance can be challenging. The building was restored after Hurricanes Sally and Zeta battered the Alabama Gulf Coast in 2020.
“We’re excited (about the sale), but at the same time (Monday) I was outside taking pictures with my family,” McCray said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a sad day for the family. But at the same time, it’s necessary. New blood and new ideas. … (The county) has more resources than we do.”
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